Man punches One FM 91.3 radio host Cheryl Miles after smacking teenage girl's head in Orchard

David Sun
The Straits Times
July 27, 2023

An unidentified man allegedly punched a radio host’s arm and smacked a teenage girl’s head in the Orchard area on Wednesday afternoon.

Radio host Cheryl Miles, 47, told The Straits Times that she was walking out of Orchard MRT station at around 4.20pm when the man blocked her path and punched her in her right arm.

She said: “He punched me sharply in the arm close to my shoulder area, and then accused me of walking too close to him. I was shocked because it was an unprovoked attack.

“I confronted him, saying excuse me several times. He was quite aggressive, and I told him I was going to report him to the police for assault.”

She said she took out her phone to start recording him, and the man then tried to pin the blame on her before walking away.

A four-second video she shared with ST shows a man dressed in black saying “you something wrong” twice when Miles confronted him, saying he had just punched her.

The man, who wore slippers and carried a large bag over his right shoulder, appeared to walk away while saying “go go”.

Miles, who hosts The Afternoon Tune Up from 1pm to 4pm on One FM 91.3 on weekdays, said she had been left shaken by the incident.

She said two teenage girls approached her shortly after the man hit her, and told her he had also attacked one of them.

“They said they witnessed what had happened to me, as something similar had happened to them just minutes before,” Miles said.

“They said the man had smacked one of them in the head in a nearby mall, and they were stunned and didn’t know what to do, so they just followed the man and saw him punching me.”

Miles said that while she was reluctant to make a scene, she felt that she owed it to the girls to stand up to the assailant.

They informed the station staff about the incidents, and they then called the police.

A police spokesman said they received a call for assistance at the location at about 4.25pm, and investigations are ongoing.

Miles said the station staff were kind to the girls and her and guided them to a staff lounge before the police arrived.

She said the girls appeared very shaken and she had some redness on her arm.

The radio personality said she was not sure if the man was mentally unstable but felt she had to pursue the matter to prevent something similar from happening to someone else.

“Even if it’s a minor thing, I think we should still pursue it because who knows what this man might do next?” she said.

“If the man needs help, then the police report will highlight this. My motivation is so that he does not do this to someone else, and that it does not escalate.”

She hopes this will also encourage others to speak up when faced with similar situations.

Miles added: “I really want to thank those two girls who approached me and really encouraged me because they spoke up first.

“Speaking up allows others to support you and you should never feel ashamed of speaking up against injustice.”